Bus Driver Jim has been an eclectic computer programmer and photographer since the early seventies. A recent twenty year stint in the transportation industry has earned him the handle and this blog is a documentary of his life and travels.

Well, it looks like the Sweet Cat is home. I put a sign out at the subdivision entrance asking if anybody had lost a cat. No calls…

I’m actually growing fond of her, even if she does nothing but eat and sleep. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a cat, but this one is really lazy, and a little crazy. I let her outside for a minute and all she did was plop under a tree while the Robin’s screeched.

I came up with a name for her, Bandy, you know, like abandoned… Problem is, I keep calling her Widget.

Also, can anybody tell me how much food to give this cat? She’s eating dry food and seems happy with it. Lots of it!

And I’m not sure if she’s pregnant or fixed. Steph set up an appointment with the local vet to check her out, but we postponed it pending results from the sign.

Steph was going to take the Lost Cat Sign down as she went to work this morning. At 7:15am I got a call. A girl said “I think you have my sisters cat.” Yep, the cats family has been located. The sign worked.

Turns out Kelly lives right down the road from us and she was watching Piper, aka Striper for her sister, and the cat took off. Kelly’s fiance saw the sign and called her saying “Piper’s alive!”.

The young lady just left with the cat, along with food supplies we had bought up. She told us that her sister rescued the cat when it was a week old and bottle fed her. The family was distraught over losing her, so it feels good to get her back home.

Guess who’s back, and laying at my feet. This cat story is getting stranger by the hour.

I can’t say I’m sorry she’s back, I did miss her. But, Steph and I had made a conscious decision to be non pet owners here. We have kids, we have grandkids, we’ve contributed to society! Yet we also return to an empty house when the other is not there. The Cat offered another dimension to our quiet, private little space.

Anyway, here’s the story: Megan, the girl that actually owns the cat, called me today and we chatted about Piper. Megan is from North Carolina (that’s what her cell phone says) and she’s living up the road in Tetonia in a place that doesn’t allow pets. Piper was staying at her sisters house in my neighborhood until August, at which point Megan was moving here to Driggs, and reclaiming the cat.

Megan then told me that Piper had run away again, and she might be heading my way. She also said that food was the driving force for her cat. Ya think? All Piper did while she was here was Eat and Sleep! (with a lot of relieving along the way…)

Sure enough, Piper was at the door when I came home on a break, and I let her in. We embraced, and she licked my hand with her sandpaper tongue. Then she started looking for food. Problem is, we gave all the food we had to Megan’s sister, who came and got her the other day. (Update: Steph just went to town for cat food…)

Megan asked me if we would like to share cat-sitting services with her sister, who lives up the road, and can’t seem to contain the cat, since we are so fond of her. Ahhh, you have to admire the boldness of this younger generation…

I kinda told her no, but if an emergency ever occurred, we’re here.

Anyway, she was supposed to be here to get Piper at 1530 and it’s now 1900.

Looking back on the temporary cat’s first appearance at the sliding glass door, I realize she was presenting herself to us. She sat up proud and straight, like an Egyptian princess.

What did I do? Chase her off the deck because baby Robins were on the ground. I still feel bad…

But she didn’t go, she got to the end of the deck and stopped. It was like “I just gave myself to you, and I’m not leaving” and she ran back past me and dove down under the deck. It took me a day to get her out. The rain soaking her between the boards finally convinced her. As she came in the house, she surrendered herself to me on her back, so I could dry her off with paper towels.

I’ve always thought it was the humans role to pick a pet, but I sure was wrong. Everything has conspired towards this cat being in our lives. She chose us, and her owner Megan just gave her to us today.

Welcome Piper!

The Temporary Cat Chronicles:

Sweet Cat(6/18/11)

Fat Cat(6/26/11)

The Sign Worked(6/27/11)

Piper Gate(6/28/11)

Note: She’s also proved to be a great hunter. We found a very dead vole in the yard recently, and Steph saw her kill a mouse yesterday. Piper suffered a puncture wound from the vole, but has healed nicely, thank you…